BENEFICIARY OR DESIGNEE?

As a Survivor of an ERF member, your benefit is determined by your status as either a beneficiary or a designee and the choices that the ERF member made with regard to benefit payout.

BENEFICIARY

To be classified as a beneficiary, you must be either the member's spouse, qualified parent, minor child(ren) or disabled child(ren).

By law the spouse is the primary beneficiary unless he or she signed and had notarized a Spousal Waiver Form to waive the benefit at the time of the member's retirement.

Beneficiaries receive a monthly benefit just as the member would. The three payment options for beneficiaries are:

10 Year Certain - This option pays you full (unreduced) benefits for your lifetime. If you die before receiving 120 monthly payments, your beneficiary receives the same monthly benefit for the balance of the 120 months.

One-Half Survivor - This option pays you full (unreduced) benefits for your lifetime. After your death, a beneficiary receives one-half of your monthly benefit for the rest of his or her life, and if both of you die before 120 monthly payments have been made, the balance of the 120 monthly payments will be made to one or more designees.

Full Survivor - This option is available to you only if you have at least 15 years of service credit or you are at least age 60 when you terminate employment. This option pays you reduced benefits for your lifetime. After your death, your beneficiary receives the same monthly payment for the rest of his or her life. The benefit reduction is based on your age and your beneficiary’s age when you retire.

DESIGNEE

ERF members may list any friend, family member or organization as a designee. If you have been named as a designee by an ERF member, your benefit will be based on the current value of any remaining payments due in the ten-year guarantee period.

Because ERF members can list multiple designees, this benefit can be divided among several individuals and/or organizations.